May 12, 1998

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-- University of North Carolina wrestling coach Bill Lam announced Tuesday the signing of eight recruits for the 1998-99 season. Lam is pleased with his crop of recruits and thinks it has the potential to be the best class of Tar Heel wrestlers since the 1995 seniors, which included three-time national champion T.J. Jaworsky and All-Americas Stan Banks and Marc Taylor.

Next year's crop of freshmen, combined with the class of freshmen on the 1997-98 squad that won UNC's sixth Atlantic Coast Conference title in the last seven years, could be the best back-to-back classes in Lam's 25 years as Carolina's head coach.

"This is probably the best group of guys coming in that we've had since our seniors in 1995," Lam says. "We've won the ACC championship in each of the last two years, but I haven't been happy with what we've done nationally. I felt like we needed to get some recruits who can be factors immediately and continue to improve, so we targeted fewer individuals and went after a smaller class of guys who can make some noise at the NCAA Tournament."

Carolina's recruiting class is highlighted by Quentin Bell and Skylar Holman, two Oklahoma natives who are among the top-rated recruits in the nation. Bell is a three-time state champion from Choctaw, Okla. who projects at 165 lbs. in collegiate competition. Holman projects at 125 or 133 lbs. and was a 1998 high school national champion and a two-time state champ. Holman's high school coach was Steve Dunlap, who coached Jaworsky in his prep days in Oklahoma.

"Quentin Bell and Skylar Holman are both impact wrestlers," Lam says. "Both of them could start next year and they can be factors nationally as they get some experience."

The class includes three other state champions: James Kaheya (141 lbs.) of Wilson, N.C., Gordon Kolb (149 lbs.) of New Orleans, La., and Jon Rich (164-174 lbs.) of Nashville, Tenn.. Rounding out the class are Pat Cadwallader (157 lbs.) of Anaheim, Calif., J.C. Hawk (125-133 lbs.) of Fayetteville, N.C., and Matt Kenny (heavyweight) of Great Meadows, N.J.

While Lam admits that this recruiting class has a more national scope than recent Tar Heel classes, he emphasizes that the Carolina program depends heavily on recruits from within the state of North Carolina.

"We had a really good in-state class of recruits last year and we redshirted a lot of those guys," Lam said. "We still need our in-state recruits and will continue to go after them. This year happened to be a year we were able to get some more national guys."

Carolina, coming off a 12-4 season with a second consecutive ACC title and a 32nd-place finish at the NCAA Championships, will face one of its most challenging schedules ever next season. Carolina's schedule includes home dates with perennial national powers Oklahoma State and Nebraska.